Court enters consent order requiring New Hampshire landscaper to pay employees $310K in wages, liquidated damages

-
Court enters consent order requiring New Hampshire landscaper to pay employees $310K in wages, liquidated damages MANCHESTER, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor, following an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division and the filing of a consent order in federal court by the department’s Office of the Solicitor, has recovered a total of $310,193 in back wages and liquidated damages from a Bedford landscaper and contractor who underpaid 60 employees. The division found that Ulster Property Services LLC and owner Kieran Rice violated the overtime, minimum wage, child labor and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act by doing the following:Paying 59 workers, whose duties included landscaping, snow removal and construction work, straight time wages for all hours worked, instead of paying them the required overtime rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.Failing to pay one employee for all hours worked, resulting in the employee receiving less than the required
Post a Comment

Department of Labor cites Connecticut contractor for workplace safety violations found in fatal New Canaan trench cave-in investigation

-
Department of Labor cites Connecticut contractor for workplace safety violations found in fatal New Canaan trench cave-in investigation
BRIDGEPORT, CT – An Easton concrete and earthwork contractor could have prevented an employee repairing an underground water line from suffering fatal injuries in a December 2023 trench collapse at a New Canaan work site but failed to follow federal safety standards for excavations.Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined Sound Construction Inc. exposed five employees to cave-in, engulfment or struck-by hazards when it did not do the following:Provide cave-in protection for the more than 12-foot-deep vertical walled trench, which resulted in the death of an employee.Train employees on how to recognize and avoid trenching hazards.Ensure an excavator was kept more than two feet from the trench’s edge.Verify the location of underground utilities and/or structures prior to excavation.OSHA cited Sound Construction for two willful and five serious violations of federal regulations and proposed $394,083 in penalties. In 2016, the agency cited the company for three serious violations related to trench safety at a Trumbull worksite. “Despite prior warnings, Sound Construction ignored trench safety protections and that decision cost an employee their life,” said OSHA Area Director Catherine Brescia in Bridgeport, Connecticut. “All employers should make workplace safety a priority or risk being responsible for leaving the family, friends and co-workers of one or more of their employees to grieve this kind of preventable death.”The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.Learn more about OSHA and trench safety, including additional information on trenching hazards and solutions and a safety video.         

Published at July 11, 2024 at 05:00AM
Read more at https://dol.gov

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

US Department of Labor, MEJA Construction Inc. to promote safety during construction of Clayton County’s Forest Park Middle School

-
US Department of Labor, MEJA Construction Inc. to promote safety during construction of Clayton County’s Forest Park Middle School Participants:  U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health AdministrationMEJA Construction Inc.Georgia Institute of Technology On-Site Safety and Health Consultation ProgramWhat:  Strategic safety partnershipBackground: The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and MEJA Construction Inc. signed a strategic partnership to promote safety and health practices to help in preventing worker injuries and reducing exposure to hazards during construction of Forest Park Middle School in Clayton County, Georgia. The initiative will also encourage contractors to develop and implement safety and health programs, and provide safety and health training to employees, employers and supervisors to reduce the number of injuries and illnesses, increase safety and health training, reduce the overexposure of workers to health and safety hazard
Read more

Department of Labor encourages construction industry employers, stakeholders to join 2024 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls

-
Department of Labor encourages construction industry employers, stakeholders to join 2024 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is encouraging construction industry employers and workers across the nation to take part in its 11th annual National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction from May 6-10. The event focuses attention on preventing the industry’s leading cause of worker deaths.The national stand-down recommends employers and workers pause voluntarily during the workday for safety demonstrations, hazard recognition and fall prevention training, and “tool-box” talks about hazards, protective methods and their company’s safety policies, goals and expectations. This year, OSHA is partnering with Construction Safety Week, an organization of more than 70 national and global construction firms, to enlist employers in the U.S. to create the largest industry-wide construction stand-down
Read more

Settlement affirms willful OSHA violations, $215K penalties, against contractors for fall hazards at multiple New Jersey work sites

-
Settlement affirms willful OSHA violations, $215K penalties, against contractors for fall hazards at multiple New Jersey work sites HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NJ – Two related North Jersey construction contractor companies – Primetime Construction LLC and its subsidiary Primetime Contractors LLC of Paterson – have agreed to pay $215,000 in penalties and undertake several significant safety measures to resolve numerous safety violations found at five Paterson construction worksites in 2021, as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor.The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration initially cited Primetime Contractors LLC for four willful violations that occurred in September 2021 after agency inspectors found the employer exposing workers to fall hazards by repeatedly failing to ensure construction site stairways at company worksites had handrails and stair rails, even after being counseled by OSHA about the relevant safety requirements. Primetime Contractors cont
Read more